Acts 20:28-31

²⁸ Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹ For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰ Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

³¹ Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

take heed (v.28) — Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (1 Timothy 4:16).

overseers (v.28) — Throughout the New Testament, the terms [elder and overseer] denote two aspects of the same office, the former pointing to the minister’s weight of years and standing, and the latter to his work of supervision. — Walker, page 448.

purchased (v.28) = made His own — acquired for one’s own possession. It doesn’t include the idea of buying something from another.

with His own blood (v.28) — The blood was Christ’s, but as Christ was God, it is right to speak of it as God’s blood. Some say it should be translated “with the blood of His own.”

men will rise up (v.30) — We are given ample confirmation of the truth of his warning. It was not long before Hymenaeus and Alexander had “made shipwreck” of the faith and had become blasphemers (1 Timothy 1:19-20). And this Hymenaeus, along with another, Philetus, succeeded in “overthrowing the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:17-18). Indeed, in his last letter the apostle had to write to Timothy: “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me” (2 Timothy 1:15).

It is granted that the “all” here may refer to a certain company which Timothy would recognize, or to the believers in Asia as a body. In any case it is evident that there was serious and widespread defection. — Stam, pages 251-252.

watch (v.31) = sleepless alertness